Understanding and Using Reciprocal Pronouns: A Simple Guide

There are people we know which are ready to look for us and stand by us at any time when we are in trouble. Most importantly they safeguard each other from the errors commonly made in English. Parathetically, (Or is that just us?) Friendship is a wonderful thing, and this applies to noun and pronoun too.

A pronoun is a word which is used in the place of a word belonging to the word class called noun. When discussing the concept of friendship, we employed a certain Kind of noun known as reciprocal pronoun in order to illustrate what friends do for each other. Reciprocal pronouns are useful friends that can’s help to enhance your sentences.

What is a reciprocal pronoun?

A reciprocal pronoun describes two people or thing in a mutual relationship. In other words, it means a case where an individual gives another an action and the other also, in one way or the other, gives back the same action.

For Example, when the sentence used is ‘Andrew and Bill helped each other,’ it is understood that both Andrew helped Bill, and at the same time Bill helped Andrew. Likewise, ‘Thus the members of the team supported one another’ as much as imply that each member helped the others. In both cases, the actors also receive the actions being given to them by other people.

List of Reciprocal Pronoun:

Most style guides recognize only two reciprocal pronouns, both made up of two words:

• each other
• one another

Bear in mind “each other”. The words “each” as well as “other” can be employed individually as indefinite pronouns. Each can also be used as an adjective or adverb or each in some cases can be a noun other on the other hand has different uses it can be an adjective, adverb, noun or even a verb. For instance, in the sentence, “Each bird in the tree looks different from each other one”, the word “each” is an adverb while “other” is adjective. Here are examples showing how reciprocal pronouns express mutual relationships:

Each other

Simply, and as it should be for two people falling in love with each other, Romeo and Juliet love each other.
The coaches talked with each other, and calmed down.
Foraging was observed to be done by the chimpanzees in a manner that they split then share the food.

One another

This being a common trend, most of the board members expressed their satisfaction for a successful quarter.
In the occasion, the visitors got on stage and made one another subject of comedies.
They formed a cluster to guard the other since there were many of them present.

How to Use Reciprocal Pronouns:

One key distinction with reciprocal pronouns is that they typically only make sense when used as objects, unlike other pronouns. This means they should not be used as the subject of a sentence, clause, or phrase.

• ✅ Correct: Barry and Mary are friends. They smiled at each other.
• ❌ Incorrect: Barry and Mary are friends. Each other smiled at them.

Reciprocal pronouns also have different meanings from reflexive pronouns, and they can't be used interchangeably. For example:

• Reciprocal pronoun: Jenny and Kenny hugged each other. (Jenny hugged Kenny, and Kenny hugged Jenny.)
• Reflexive pronoun: Jenny and Kenny hugged themselves. (Jenny hugged herself, and Kenny hugged himself.)

Reciprocal pronouns can also be possessive:

• The students reviewed each other’s homework.
• The countries agreed to respect one another’s trade routes.

Can 'each other' and 'one another' be used interchangeably? Some style guides claim that "each other" should refer to two people or things, while "one another" should be used for more than two. However, in everyday writing and speech, these pronouns are often used interchangeably:

• Everyone in the room was suspicious of each other.
• David and Adrianna used flashcards to quiz one another.

You can comfortably use either pronoun in most contexts.

You May Also Like this 

• Pronouns: Definition, Types and Examples
• Possessive Pronouns: Definition, Rules and Examples
• Understanding Reflexive Pronouns: Definition, Usage, and Examples